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POU LTRY 




BOYS and GIRU 
POULTRY 



WORK 




UNFFED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
DEPARTMENT CIRCULAR 19 

CONTRIBUTION FROM 

BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY 

ANIMAL HUSBANDRY DIVISION 

WASHINGTON. D. C. 



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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2011 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/poultryhousesOOunit 






POULTRY HOUSES. 



P>OULTKY HOUSES or other buildings where fowls are kept 
A should be dry, well ventilated, free from drafts, with plenty 
of sunshine and room enough to allow the birds to move about with 
freedom and comfort. These are necessary factors if the fowls are to 
be kept healthy, vigorous, and productive, in fact much more im- 
portant than the kind or style of building used. Poultry houses are 
built in a variety of shapes and sizes, and often old buildings are built 




Fig. 1. — House for small flock.. Will accommodate any number of fowls up to 25. 

over or remodeled into poultry houses, all giving about the same re- 
sults, which indicates that no fixed type of building can be recom- 
mended as superior to all others if proper ventilation, light, and 
other essentials here referred to are provided. 

LOCATION. 

If new houses are to be built they should be located if possible on 
high or sloping ground and always on dry and well-drained soil. 1 

1 Note. — In some parts of the South " stick-tight fleas " are very troublesome. These 
fleas breed rapidly in the dry sand or dirt, but will not live or breed in damp places. 
Therefore, where dirt floors are used the poultry houses are often built in rather low 
damp places (not wet) in preference to a high, sandy, dry location. 

136002°— 19 3 



4 Department Circular 19, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 

Wet or damp ground means a damp house and a damp house not only 
means a cold one but invites sickness and diseases. Never build a 
house in a hollow, as water and cold air settle in low places and 
should be avoided. Have the house face the south, as it gives more 
sunlight and for a longer part of the day, especially in winter, when 
sunlight is necessary for the comfort of the birds. It also makes the 
house warmer, drier, and more cheerful and adds to the productive- 
ness of the flock. 

The poultry house should be convenient, substantial, and inexpen- 
sive. Its size or dimensions depend largely upon where you live 
and the number of fowls you wish to keep. On a farm or where the 
birds can be out of doors nearly every day in the year, about 2^ 
square feet of floor space per bird in flocks of 20 is enough, but in 
a village or city or in a climate where there is a good deal of snow, 
making it necessary to confine the birds closely, 4 or 5 square feet 
per bird should be allowed. 

House for small flock. — The house shown in figure 1 is a very satis- 
factory one for the average boy or girl who wishes to keep only a 
small flock, as it may be used for breeding birds or for hens kept 
only for egg production. It is 10 feet long, 7 feet wide, 6 feet 2 
inches high in front and 4 feet high in back, and will accommodate any 
number of birds up to 25. The following lumber was used in its 
construction : 

2 pieces 4 by 6,. 12 feet long, for sills 48 

3 pieces 2 by 4, 14 feet long, for joists 28 

3 pieces 2 by 4, 16 feet long, for rafters 32 

13 pieces 2 by 3, 12 feet long, for studs and braces 78 

340 pieces |-inch matched flooring for floors and sides 340 

100 pieces inch sheathing for the roof 100 

Also 1 roll of roofing paper, 2 windows, wire for windows, hinges, and nails. 

Common boards 1 inch thick may be used instead of matched 
.flooring for inclosing the house, placing battens over the cracks. As 
wide boards as possible should be used, as the wider the boards the 
smaller the number of battens required. The use of battens is some- 
what cheaper and just as satisfactory although the house is not quite 
so attractive. 

If you live in a climate where the winters are not exceptionally 
cold it is preferable to cut one large opening in the front of the house 
instead of 2 windows (and small opening), as shown in figure 1, cov- 
ering it with wire netting instead of putting in sash and glass. When 
this is done, cut the opening lengthwise of the building 7 feet long, 
2-| feet wide, and 6 inches from the roof. Such an opening provides 
an abundance of ventilation, fresh air, and sunshine, which are very 
necessary. If it is too cold, a burlap curtain may be made to put 
down over the opening at night and on extremely cold days. A hen 



Poultry Houses. 5 

will stand a good deal of cold air, however, provided the air is dry, 
and plenty of ventilation helps to keep the air dry in the house. The 
house shown in figure 1 was built on runners so it could be moved to 
fresh ground occasionally, but, if desired, may be put on a permanent 
foundation. 

House for 50 to 75 hens. — The boy or girl who wishes to keep a 
larger number of hens must necessarily provide a larger house. If 
kept principally for egg production, from 50 to 75 hens may run 
together with good results, and for this number a house of the same 
type as figure 1, 16 feet long, 12 feet wide, 8 feet high in front and 5 
feet high in back, is recommended. Such a house gives 192 square 




Fig. 2. — Interior view of poultry house shown in figure 1. 

feet of floor space and will accommodate from 50 to 60 hens of the 
larger breeds, such as Rhode Island Reds or Plymouth Rocks, and 
from 60 to 75 of the smaller breeds, such as Leghorns, Anconas, and 
Hamburg's, depending upon how much the birds can be out of doors. 
Breeding house. — The club member who wishes to separate his birds 
into small flocks or pens for breeding purposes may construct a house 
similar to the one shown in figure 2. The dimensions should be 14 
feet wide, 7-| feet high in front, 5 feet high in the back, and as long as 
desired, with partitions every 6 feet, making each pen or compart- 
ment 6 by 14 feet, which will accommodate from 20 to 25 birds. 
Doors should be put in the partitions so "that you may go from one 
pen to the other, but aside from this, the interior of the house should 
be the same as described and pictured in figure 2. 



6 Department Circular 19, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 

Remodeling poultry houses. — Many farms have old style, closed-up 
poultry houses with poor light and ventilation; also old sheds and 
other buildings of little use for other purposes that can be remodeled 
or built over with little difficulty into satisfactory poultry houses. 
If poultry-club members are offered such an opportunity they should 




Old-style hen house. No light ; no ventila- Shed. Excellent material for poultry 
tion ; poor results. house. 







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Open-front hen house. Shed boarded up Side view of house constructed from old 
in front ; poultry netting windows. shed. 





Interior of same house. Good sunlight Model hen house constructed from shed 
conditions. 1, Movable roosts ; 2, drop- at little cost. Note effects of a coat of 

ping board ; 3, nests. whitewash. 

Fig. 3. 

take advantage of it, for a building of that kind usually can be made 
over for less than one-half the cost of constructing a new one, and 
if the work is well done should give just as good results. Further- 
more the work performed in remodeling the building serves as a 
good poultry-club demonstration in poultry-house construction. 
The picture at the top of this page shows an old-style house, 



Poultry Houses. 7 

lacking in both light and ventilation, making it unfit for keeping 
fowls, also an old shed as it appeared before it was built over into a 
poultry house. The two middle pictures show different views of 
the same shed remodeled or built over into a modern house. The 
lower left-hand picture shows the interior of the house, and the lower 
right-hand picture shows the completed house after a coat of, white- 
wash has been applied. 

Floors. — Poultry houses may be built with or without floors. In 
either case they should be dry, as damp floors make damp litter, and 
dampness is fatal to both fowls and chicks. If the house is on dry, 
sandy soil, a dirt floor is usually quite satisfactory, but as a rule it is 
more damp than board or cement floors. Dirt floors should be 
scraped and new soil put in 2 or 3 times a year to keep them sanitary. 
If board floors are used they should be both tight and smooth so as 
to make them dry and easy to clean. If possible they should be 8 
or 10 inches from the ground to allow a circulation of air and to 
prevent rats from harboring under them. 

Cement floors. — Cement floors, especially for large houses, are quite 
satisfactory, as they keep rats out and also last much longer than 
board floors. They are also sanitary and easy to clean but are harder 
and more expensive to build than wooden floors. A cement floor 
should always be kept well covered with litter ; otherwise it is cold 
and uncomfortable for the birds. 

INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT. 

The interior of each poultry house should be simple, convenient, 
and easy to clean. About the same arrangement can apply to any 
house, the only difference being that the larger the number of fowls 
kept the more nests and roosting room required. 

Roosts — Always place the roosts in the back of the house away from 
the windows or openings to avoid the cold. To catch the droppings, 
build a platform or dropping boards (see figure 2) about 2 feet or 
2 feet 6 inches from the floor (never more than 2 feet 6 inches) and 
have the roosts about 8 inches above the dropping boards and 16 
inches apart. 

From 10 to 12 inches of roosting space should be allowed for each 
hen. The roosts should be built as shown in the picture (figure 2) 
and hinged to the back wall, so that they may be raised, and both 
roosts and dropping boards cleaned and sprayed thoroughly. All 
roosts should be the same height. Never build one above the other, 
as every hen will try to get on the highest roost and will fight and 
try to crowd the other off. Figure 2 also shows at the end of the 
roosts a small coop inclosed with wire, and having a slat bottom, for 
confining broody hens. Such a coop may or may not be included 
with the other fixtures as the club member may wish. If built it 



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8 Department Circular 19, U. S. Dept. of q 002 840 006 8 

should be 3 or 4 inches above the platform, as shown in the picture, 
because it is easier to keep clean and also allows air to circulate 
underneath and through the slats, which is important in breaking up 
sitting hens. If this brood coop is not built a small, slatted coop or 
crate suspended from the ceiling by a wire or rope, allowing it to 
swing, makes a good place to break up broody hens. 

Nests.— There should be a nest for every 4 hens. Nests should be at 
least 15 inches square and may be built singly or in rows and fas- 
tened to the side of the building or placed under the dropping 
boards, as shown in figure 2. If possible, however, nests should be 
somewhat secluded or darkened, as the hens seek such nests more 
readily and are also less liable to acquire the habit of eating their 
eggs. The entrance to the nests in the picture are from the back, 
the door in front being for convenience in gathering the eggs. 

Litter. — The floor of every poultry house, whether of dirt or of 
boards, should be kept covered with a litter from 4 to 8 inches deep at 
all times. Oat, wheat, or rye straw makes the best litter, but if it 
can not be obtained sawdust, chaff, dry leaves, or pine needles may 
be used. As soon as the litter becomes damp or badly soiled it should 
be taken out and fresh, dry litter put in its place. 



